Push-button actuated door latch



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Aug. 28, 1951 AQG. WHALLEY 2,565,711

PUSH-BUTTON CTUATED DOOR LATCH i Filed sept. 3o, 1948 2 sheets-sheet 11217101271- 11 15 zo 19 'ff 22g j] M53@ 21 zz D 7155 .16 al- Z9 All@28,v 1951 A. G. WHALLEY PUSH-BUTTON ACTUATED DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2www A/l UTI 0237107 nfl Ml, 4.

Filed Sept. 50, 1948 .being s Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATESPATENT oFFl CE 2,565,711 PUSH-BUTTON ACTUATED DOORLATCH Albert lwhalley,Teramo; Canada,1 assigner of 'one-half to Cliftonwilliarn tilecking,

roronto, Ontario; Canada" Applicationseptember so, 194s, serial No.51,940

This invention relates to door latches, and more particularly topush-button actuated door latches. l

An object of this invention isto provide a door latch which in ay bereleased by suitable'pushbuttons Vlocated directly opposite each etheron each side of the door. Y v

Another object of this inventionis to provide a door latch having@dilemmi-fand lathlng bolts which are reliable in operation "andwhicl'i'are easily manufactured.

A further object of this invention is to provide an autcihatic doorlatch, in which the bolts are so constructed that they maybe reversedthere'- by enabling the latch'to be installed in either right hand orleft hand doors.

All i' the foregoing andstill further objects and advantages oftheinvention willbeeonie apparent f rom a s tudyofthe followingspecification, taken in conjunction withU the accompanying drawings,wherein like characters of reference indicate cqrrespondingpartsthronghout the several views and wherein: l

Fig. l is a side elevation of a door latch constructedaccording to thisinvention, the parts l own in the positions which they will nor- .efallrassume, Wheniheg'or is Open:

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the door latch Showigg the parts ,as they.would appear .when the door is almost closed but before Athe latchingbolt has slipped intoits retaining slot in the Vdoor .iamb K '4 y AFig.. 3 isa side elevation of the door latch show- 4ing 'the parts asthey wouldfappearwhen the .door .is .Closed and latched;

Eig. 1 is a side elevation of thedoor latch showing 'the ,Darts @ailier.Wld normally .appear after the actuating leverhas V been'releasedbyrneansof pressure appliedtoone of the push- 1Abjdttons, which allqwsthe;latch ing bolt to retract `and 'permits the C1091" i0 @P9111 Pif-f.45. is. eretitel. Sectional .View Deken im. the

lineE- of F i g. 1;

Fig. 6 is a verticalsectional view talien en l the "be releasedvvhenpre'ssure is appliedto the auxiliary'push-butto'nj' Fig. 8 isavertical sectional view taken on the "Fig". 9 'is a vertical sectionalview taken on the k" Fig. l0 Ais aperspective v iew ofthe actuatingbolt;

Fig. 11 is an end View of the actuating bolt;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the latching bolt; and

Fig. 13 is an end view of the latching bolt.

The inventiondisclosed and claimed 'herein is believed to be aconsiderable advance over prior art push-button'actuated doorv latches,and reference is made' particularly to Harold Keats Patent No. 2,18'8',642,"dated January 30, 194'0 which discloses a' representativeprior art construction. In the Keats" device, the actuating level`whereby the latching bolt 'and the actuating bolt areoperatively'connected reeks on one fulcrum only, and in order to providea'rnechanism'whereby the door maybe opened froml either side by pressinga push-button, it is imperative that one push-button befbel'o'w thefulcrum and that the other push-buttbn'be above 'the fulcrum;' thus thepush-buttons cannot be opposite one another. lThis increasesAmanufacturing costs, since identical escutcheon plates cannot beprovided for' both sides of the door and it is necessary instead toprovide twddiferent escutcheon plates having pushlbutto'nsl'ocated indifferent positions.

It is also characteristic f prior art devices that the bolts are"springloaded by means of l tension springs connected to pins on'the bolt andon vthe supporting structure. 'Y In `accordance with this invention the'spring loading rof the bolts is provided by compression' springsinserted 'in elongated apertures inthel bolts, one end of a springengaging'a'n end of the aperture and the other end engaging a pillarextending fror'nthe supporting structure land passing through thesaidapertur'e.'v

' According to this invention an actuating bolt i0 is slidablyinountedon flanged frame' Hand is adapted to jslidelongitudinallytherein betweenthe guide pillar'si Zwhich extend from theframe.

'A' latch'in'g boltv [3"is'also rrio'unted on trarne 9,

and itislikewiseadapted to" slidelongitudinally therein betweenr`another' pair of "guide pillars I4.

Bolts'l and 1'3 respectively have 'slots I'and i6 cut therein and withinthese slots extend 'columns I1 and' lfwhich arefixed to the'frameAactnatingfbolt `IU` Yis urged outwardly byinea'ns ci compressionspringlQ whichis-mounted in slot'l and' e'xtendsbetween the leading endof the said slot and'on'e'side of column' il. Similarly'latching b'ltl'Bisurged'inw'ardly by means of conlpressionspring 23 which is mounted inSlet Hi and XtedS between the trailinglend AOf the said latching boltand oneside of column i8.

' A 'ridge 2| is provided on' theframe approximately'inidwaybetweenbolts Iii and ltand'parallel V tl'ieifeto near thetrailing ends of thebolts.

3 Ridge 2i provides a fulcrum at one side of actuating lever 22 whichextends between the two bolts, the particular construction of the saidactuating lever being subsequently described in detail.

Journal pin 23 extends from ridge 2i transversely thereto and passesthrough a slot 24 provided in actuating lever 22. A disc-like projection25 o-n one end of lever 22 extends within a recess 26 provided in thelower edge and back face of the actuating bolt IB. Projection 25 isdisc-shaped so that it may both slide and rotate within recess 26 whenactuating bolt I0 is forced inwardly against the force of helical springI9, this inward movement of actuating bolt IE) causing rotation ofactuating lever 22 about journal pin 23. A projection 21 on the lowerenti of lever 22 is adapted to engage the front edge 28 of a recess 23provided in latching bolt i3 in its front face at its upper rearwardend. A helical spring 3i) is connected at one end to a pin 3i extendingfrom the frame, and its other end is connected to actuating lever 22thus urging the pro jection 21 of the actuating lever against the edge28 of recess 29 provided in latching bolt I3.

A face plate 32 is secured to frame Il by a screw 33 which is threadedinto a column 34 extending from the frame; there is thus provided aclosed chamber within which is enclosed the aforedescribed mechanism.

Openings 35 and 36 are provided in frame II and face plate 32respectively at points therein opposite the actuating lever 22; itshould be noted that these openings are also opposite each other.

Through these openings extend push rods 31 and 38 respectively which areadapted to register with and be actuated by suitable push-buttons (notshown) provided in escutcheon plates mounted on either side of the door.A satisfactory type of escutcheon plate -with push-button which may beused with this invention is disclosed in Patent No. 2,314,646 to HaroldBeatson Keats, issued March 23, 1943.

The various stages of operation of the door latch will now be describedin detail. For the satisfactory operation of this latch it is necessarythat the door jamb be provided with a bearing plate 40 which includes aplane surface with which may engage the actuating bolt I0, and a recess4I into which the latching bolt I3 may enter.

When the door is gradually moved from an open to a closed position, theactuating bolt i0 engaging with the plane surface of the bearing plateon the door jamb will be gradually pushed inwardly, thereby causingactuating lever 22 to pivot at its projection 21 against the edge 23 ofrecess 2S provided in latching bolt I3, as shown in Fig. 2; the movementof actuating lever 22 during this operation is guided by journal pin 23extending through elongated slot 2li provided in the actuating lever.

As soon as the door is completely closed, the front end of the latchingbolt will register with the recess 4I provided in the bearing plate 43secured to the door jamb, and the latching bolt will suddenly be urgedforwardly by the combined negative action of compression spring 20 andpositive action of tension spring 39 which is urging the latching lever22 forwardly so as to in turn urge the latching bolt forwardly. Thus thedoor will be securely latched by the engagement of latching bolt I3 inthe recess provided in the bearing plate of the door jamb. Althoughhelical spring 20 has a negative action in that it urges the latchingbolt rearwardly, tension spring 30 more than overcomes the force of thesaid compression spring 2B since tension spring 3i) is selected to havea spring constant greater than Y the spring constant of spring 20.

Referring now to Fig. 5, a compression spring 42 which is coiled arounda pin 43 extending from the face plate 32 has one end bearing againstthe said face plate and the opposite end bearing against actuating lever22. Thus the said compression spring tends to fulcrum the actuatinglever about ridge 2l, thus causing projection 21 to press downwardly atall times upon the surface of latching bolt I3 at recess 29.

The latch may be released when it is desired to open the door bypressing the push-button which engages push rod 31 or 38, depending ofcourse on the side from which the door is being opened. The action ofthe latch when push rod 31 is pressed will rst be described. Depressionof the push rod 31 causes actuating lever 22 to fulcrum about ridge 2|as shown in Fig. 6; sp-ring i2 is thereby compressed and projection 21will rise out of recess 29 in latching bolt I3 and will clear theleading edge 23 of the said recess, and compression spring 20 willimmediately thereafter cause the latching bolt to be withdrawn to theposition shown in Fig. 4. A sha1x low recess 29a which is a continuationof recess 29 provides clearance for the projection 21 when the latchingbolt is in this withdrawn position. When the latching bolt is withdrawn,it no longer engages with the recess provided in the bearing plate ofthe door jamb and the door may then be opened.

As soon .as the door is opened, spring I9 will urge the actuating boltforwardly into the position shown in Fig. 1, and this in turn causesactuating lever 22 to pivot about journal pin 23 therefby causing theextension 21 of the actuating lever to fall into the recess 29 of theactuating bolt I3, thereby cooking the latch for subsequent use.

If it be assumed that the dimensions of the parts of the mechanism aresuch that the moment arm of projection 25 about journal pin 23 is equalto the moment arm of the axis of tension of helical spring 30 aboutjournal pin 23, then compression spring I9 need only have a springconstant slightly greater than that of tension spring 3B in order toeffect the aforementioned cocking action. Of course, in practice, theco-efiicient of friction of the sliding parts is not to be ignored, andhence in the preferred construction spring I9 has a spring constantapproximately one-third greater than that of tension spring I3.

The operation of the latch when it is released from the other side, i.e. by pressing the push button which presses against push rod 33 willnow be described. In this operation, actuating lever 22 is notfulcrummed about ridge 2I but its projection 25 actually fulcrums on thesurface of recess 26 in actuating bolt I3 as shown in Fig. 7. Thefulcrum in this case is thus bearing on one side of actuating lever 22whereas the ridge 2I in the other case was providing a fulcrum on theopposite side of the actuating lever. Spring 42 is thus compressed andprojection 21 will rise out of recess 29 in latching bolt I3 and willclear the leading edge 28 of the said recess. The compression spring 20will immediately thereafter cause the latching bolt to be withdrawn tothe position shown in Fig. 4, allowing the door to be opened.

, j5. A latch of the class described comprising a support, an actuatingbolt and a latching bolt projectable from the same edge of and mountedon said support, a spring continuously tending to project said actuatingbolt through said edge, a spring continuously tending to retract saidlatching bolt from said edge, a step in the side of the actuating boltadjacent one face of the support, a step in the side of the latchingbolt adjacent the other face of the support, an actuating lever pivotedin said support and engaging at opposite ends the step in each of bolts,the said actuating lever thus providing an operative connection betweensaid bolts whereby as the said actuating bolt is pushed back saidlatching bolt will be projected, a spring engaging the actuating leverand tending to turn it about its pivot to urge forwardly the end of theactuating lever which engages the latching bolt, the said actuatinglever spring being unable to overcome the tendency of the actuating boltspring to project the actuating bolt through the aforesaid edge of thesupport, a fulcrum at one side of the actuating lever on which the levermay be rocked, a fulcrum spaced from the rlrst mentioned fulcrum and atthe other side of the actuating lever on which the lever may also berocked, push means extending through the support opposite one side ofthe lever and adapted when pressed to engage the lever between the twofulcrums and rock it on one of the fulcrums to cause an end of the leverto be disengaged from the step in a bolt.

push means extending through the support opposite the other side of thelever and adapted when pressed to engage the lever between the twofulcrums and rock it on the other of the fulcrums to cause an end of thelever to be disengaged from the step in a bolt, the disengagement of theactuating lever from the step in a bolt caused by pressure on eitherpush means bearing on the lever breaking the operative connectionbetween the two bolts and allowing the projected latching bolt toretract.

6. A latch of the class described comprising a support, an actuatingbolt and a latching bolt projectable from the same edge of and mountedon said support, means continuously tending to project said actuatingbolt through said edge, means continuously tending to retract saidlatching bolt from said edge, a step at the rear end of one of thebolts, a recess at the rear end of the other bolt, an actuating leverpivoted on said support and engaging at its opposite ends the recess andthe step in the bolts, the said actuating lever thus providing anoperative connection between said bolts whereby as said actuating boltis pushed back said latching bolt may be projected, a fulcrum at oneside of the actuating lever on which the lever may be rocked, a fulcrumspaced from the rst mentioned fulcrum and at the other side of theactuating lever on which the lever may also be rocked, push meansextending through the support opposite one side of the lever and adaptedwhen pressed to engage the lever between the two fulcrums and rock it onone of the fulcrums to cause an end of the lever to be disengaged fromthe aforesaid step, push means extending through the support oppositethe other side or" the lever and adapted when pressed to engage thelever between the two fulcrums and rock it on the other of the fulcrumsto cause an end of the lever to be disengaged from the step, thedisengagement of the actuating lever from the step caused by pressure'oneither push means bearing on the lever breaking the operative connectionbetween the two bolts and allowing the projected latching bolt toretract.

'7. A latch of the class described comprising support, an actuating boltand a latching bolt projectable from the same edge of and mounted onsaid support, means continuously tending to project said actuating boltthrough said edge, means continuously tending to retract said latchingbolt from said edge, a step at the rear end of one of the bolts, arecess at the rear end of the other bolt, an actuating lever pivoted onsaid support and engaging at its opposite ends the recess and the stepin the bolts, the said actuating lever thus providing an operativeconnection between said bolts whereby as said actuating bolt is pushedback said latching bolt may be projected, a fulcrum on the support onwhich the side of the actuating lever bears and on which it may berocked, the recess at the rear end of one of the bolts providing anotherfulcrum on which the other side of the actuating lever bears and onwhich it may be rocked, push means extending through the supportopposite one side of the lever and adapted when pressed to engage thelever between the two fulcrums and rock it on the fulcrum mounted on thesupport to cause the end of the lever engaging a step to be disengagedtherefrom, push mean extending through the support opposite the otherside of the lever and adapted when pressed to engage the lever betweenthe two fulcrums and rock it on the fulcrum provided by the aforesaidrecess to cause the end of the lever engaging the step to be disengagedtherefrom, the disengagement of the actuating lever from the step causedby pressure on either push means bearing on the lever breaking theoperative connection between the two bolts and allowing the projectedlatching bolt to retract.

8. A latch of the class described comprising a support, two spaced apartpillars extending from said support, an actuating bolt having anelongated aperture and mounted for reciprocating movement on thesupport, one of the pillars extending through the aperture in theactuating bolt, a latching bolt also having an elongated aperture andmounted for reciprocating movement on the support, the other pillarextending through the aperture in the actuating bolt, guides extendingfrom the support and engaging the bolts to control their movement, acompression spring inserted in the aperture of the actuating bolt andhaving one end bearing against an end of the aperture and the other endbearing against the pillar therein, the said spring continuously tendingto project the actuating bolt through an edge ofthe support, acompression spring inserted in the aperture of the latching bolt andhaving one end bearing against an end of the said aperture and the otherend against the pillar therein, the said spring continuously tending toretract the latching boltv from the aforesaid edge of the support, anactuating lever pivoted on said support for operatively connecting saidbolts together whereby as said actuating bolt is pushed back saidlatching bolt may be projected, push means extending through the supportopposite one side of the actuating lever and adapted when pressed tomove the actuating lever and break the operative connection between thetwo bolts and allow the projected latching bolt to retract, push meansextending through the support opposite the other side of the actuatinglever and adapted when pressed to also move the actuating lever andbreak the operative connection between the two bolts and allow thelatching bolt to retract, the said push means being locatedsubstantially opposite each other.

9. A latch of the class described, comprising a support, a springprojected actuating bolt and a spring retracted latching boltprojectable from the same edge of and mounted on said support, anactuating lever pivoted on said support for operatively connecting saidbolts together Whereby as said actuating bolt is pushed back saidlatching bolt may be projected, a fulcrum at one side of the actuatinglever and about which the actuating lever may be rocked, push meansextending through the support opposite the other side of the actuatinglever and adapted when pressed to engage the said other side of theactuating lever to rock it about the said fulcrum to break the operativeconnection between the two bolts and allow the projected latching boltto retract, a fulcrum at the said other side of the actuating leverspaced from the aforementioned fulcrum and about which the actuatinglever may be rocked, push means extending through the support oppositethe first mentioned side of the actuating lever and adapted when pressedto engage the said rst mentioned side of the actuating lever to rock itabout the second mentioned fulcrum to break the operative connectionbetween the tWo bolts and allow the projected latching bolt to retract,the provision of two fulcrums as aforesaid enabling the two push meanson opposite sides of the actuating lever to be disposed co-aXially.

ALBERT G. WHALLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Keats Mar. 23, 1943

